Brother, My Brother
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Genesis is less than happy being woken up at "ridiculous o'clock". However nothing could prepare him for the news he had a younger brother! Not that Genesis is complaining. Harry is a snarky, hilarious runt who provides never ending amusement and chaos that insures boredom will never be an issue again. Now they just have to deal with that pesky "destiny" of his...
1. Chapter 1

Genesis was _not_ in a happy mood, and his expression conveyed that very clearly to anyone who saw him at the moment. Being called in at "ridiculous o'clock" when he had barely gotten to sleep did that to you.

"What the hell is the problem, and why should I care about it?" he demanded.

The doctor gave him a flat look... Genesis honestly could not find it in him to give a damn.

"Considering what we found during the blood tests, we thought it best to contact you directly," said the doctor.

Genesis looked at him impatiently. He was tired, his shoulder hurt like hell, and he just wanted to go back to sleep. Preferably after using the man as target practice for waking him.

"You have a brother."

Any exhaustion in his eyes was wiped clean in an instant.

"Could you repeat that?"

"You have a brother. A younger one to be precise. We ran the test after finding some unusual pathogens in his bloodstream, and because of the fact the nurse who ran the test happens to be one of your 'fans', well..." said the doctor with a slight wince.

Midgar fan clubs were terrifying, none more so than the ones belonging to the three generals, Sephiroth in particular.

"...You have exactly one minute to explain," said Genesis dead serious. If the doctor was messing with him, he was going to gut the man regardless of the bitching Sephiroth and Lazard would give him later.

The doctor pulled out the DNA results.

"The third one is Angeal Hewley, for comparison," he explained.

Genesis looked at the documents...and felt a strange sort of hope filled him. According to these, he had a brother. Even he could see the strong similarity between them, though the kid was way skinnier than he had ever been.

"Why was he brought into the hospital?"

"Another trainee dragged him in after he received a nasty concussion and the boy was too stubborn to get it treated. He kept insisting he was 'fine' despite the amount of blood on his head," replied the doctor.

"Can I see him?" asked Genesis.

"Visiting hours are normally from six in the morning to midnight...but considering who you are I think it would be safer for all involved if you met him now," he replied.

Genesis went up to the room, his heart beating a thousand times a minute. While he was excited that he had family, he was also terrified. What if the guy didn't like him? What if he hated him as much as his adopted parents did?

He steeled himself...and opened the door.

* * *

_Third POV_

Harry was mildly annoyed. He had concussions before and knew how to deal with it, but Cloud was _such_ a mother hen that he insisted he get it treated.

And now here he was stuck in a hospital, with a nurse that irritated the hell out of him because apparently she was a member of the 'Crimson Poets', whatever the hell_ that_ meant.

So when the door opened, he was one more visit away from setting the woman on fire.

Thankfully, it wasn't the nurse.

It was a man with bright red hair that was just a shade or two brighter than his own, with blue-green eyes. If he didn't know any better he'd swear that the guy was a Weasley. He even wore a bright crimson coat and looked somewhat nervous.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"My name is Genesis...and I'm your brother," he said finally, after having to steel himself up for it.

Harry stared at him in disbelief.

He knew he had a brother. That was the entire reason he had used such a dangerous ritual to help him find his closet kin after learning the 'true' Lord Potter was alive, but displaced.

He just never thought it would be this easy to find the guy.

His brother shifted uncomfortably.

"You look like Mum," said Harry finally.

Genesis blinked.

"I do?"

"Everyone told me I looked a lot like dad, except for the hair and eyes, but you almost look like a male version of Mum," said Harry. "I would show you pictures...but I don't have them on me at the moment."

He had to put them in a safe deposit box, because the cadets weren't allowed to have personal belongings bigger than their tiny locker. And it would raise too many questions to expand it to hold most of his belongings.

Seeing a familiar sort of hope in his eyes, Genesis awkwardly sat down.

"Can you tell me about them?"

"I wish I could. I barely know anything myself and no one seems to want to talk about them except the barest hints of anything," admitted Harry.

Genesis seemed disappointed at that. From the sound of things, his real parents were dead.

"Do you know how..."

"They were murdered. Some hypocrite with a one-hit kill materia broke into the house one night after getting their location from someone they trusted and killed them. I honestly had no idea I even _had_ an older brother until about six months ago, when I went to read the will of my godfather," said Harry.

The older male slumped.

"Your original name is Gabriel."

Genesis looked at him in surprise.

"Gabriel?"

"Gabriel Briar Potter," said Harry. "Apparently mum really wanted to name her first born after her favorite angel, and dad agreed only if he was allowed to name their next son after his favorite uncle."

Genesis chuckled...it seemed even now he couldn't escape the 'angel' theme.

"How did you end up in the hospital?"

"Cloud is a mother hen. I took _one_ minor knock to the head and the second he saw blood he insisted I come in to get treated," said Harry sourly. "Honestly, I've had worse concussions."

Genesis felt there was a story behind that...one he really wouldn't like. But it was late and despite the shock he had been given he really needed his sleep.

Seeing him yawn, Harry grinned.

"Go get some sleep. I promise not to check myself out until morning when you get here...though if you can do something about that really annoying nurse I would appreciate it."

"Annoying nurse?"

"She kept looking at me and giggling for some weird reason. She had this pin on her uniform, though I don't get what it meant."

Genesis had a headache already.

"Did it look anything like this?" he asked, pulling out another.

"That's the one!"

"I'll ask that they keep any of the Crimson Poets far, far away from your room until I get back," said Genesis.

"Who?"

Genesis stared at him.

"Crimson Poets? My fan club? How do you not know about them?"

"Are they anything like those idiots in the Silver Elite who act all ga-ga over a guy that constantly looks like he has a stick up his ass and has the hair of an old man?"

Genesis gaped.

"What did you just say?" he asked, not willing to believe it.

"I said are they anything like the idiots who are overly obsessed with the guy that has a stick up his ass, has the hair of an old man? I would say he's compensating for something, but I've _seen_ those Buster swords that is clearly a sign they feel like they need to make up for the size of something else," asked Harry flatly.

Genesis couldn't help his reaction. He started howling like mad.

"Dear Minerva, I am keeping you if it's the last thing I do!" he cackled.

He desperately needed a laugh like that. Now he wouldn't be able to look at Sephiroth _or_ Angeal for a week without that comment coming up in his head!

Harry grinned at him.

"Please tell me you're good with materia too," said Genesis, hopeful.

"Natural materia yes. That manufactured crap doesn't seem to work properly for me at all, and my sword skills are abysmal according to the instructors," said Harry.

Genesis almost wanted to dance with glee! Not only was the kid able to make snarky comments about _Sephiroth_ of all people with a straight face, but he was good with materia! There was no way he wasn't roping his little brother as an apprentice.

* * *

Angeal took _one_ look at the fact Genesis was trying not to laugh about something, and knew something was up.

"What are you up to? The last time you looked this amused, all the heaters in the Urban Development department had uncooked popcorn added to them."

"They weren't complaining overly much when they realized it was still edible," said Genesis.

"Yes, but that look on your face has _always_ been a sign that you're planning a prank. Always," said Angeal flatly.

"It's less a prank and more... you know I was adopted, right?" said Genesis.

Angeal had mostly forgotten that, but nodded.

"What of it?"

"Come to my apartment later and I'll show you," said Genesis. "On an unrelated note, I have found the absolute_ perfect_ apprentice and I bet he could outdo your puppy."

"For the last time, Zack is not my puppy."

"He sure as hell acts like it."

Angeal rolled his eyes.

_A few hours later..._

Angeal arrived at Genesis' apartment...and smelled something _heavenly_ coming from it. Now he was really suspicious, because he knew very well Genesis couldn't cook to save his life.

Genesis opened the door and grinned when he saw Angeal.

"Get in. I don't want the fangirls seeing who's in here just yet."

Angeal entered...and the moment he did he realized there was definitely another person in the apartment.

For a moment he feared it was a woman. Until the other person came out of the kitchen with actual food.

"I hope you're hungry Genesis, because I don't know how anyone can stand that gruel they call food in the mess," said the boy flatly. Then he noticed the extra. "...Isn't that the guy who's clearly overcompensating for something with that sword of his? The one with the overexcited puppy who looks like he would take forever to house train?"

Genesis started cackling.

"For the last time, Zack is _not_ a puppy," said Angeal, giving Genesis a glare.

Genesis was too busy laughing to answer him. The kid looked openly dubious at his denial.

"So who is this?" asked Angeal.

Genesis managed to contain his snickering long enough to answer.

"Angeal, meet my little brother... Harry Potter."

"Your brother?" said Angeal in surprise.

Now that he got a better look at the boy, he could see something of a resemblance. The hair and eyes for one. There was also the facial features, though the younger boy looked far more gaunt than Genesis ever had.

Genesis provided his best friend with the proof.

"How on earth did you find him?"

"I got a call from a doctor at the hospital saying that one of my 'fans' apparently decided to run a DNA test without authorization because of the resemblance. He called me a horrible hour and I was understandably pissed until he told me what the results were. For once being so noticeable was a good thing, since I never had any siblings on record," said Genesis.

Angeal turned to Harry, who was mostly silent outside of handling the food.

"What can you tell us about yourself?"

"I'm almost seventeen, an orphan, and until six months ago had no idea that I even _had_ an older brother. I only found out by accident when the people in charge of my inheritance told me that I only inherited the titles from my godfather's family, not my father's. When I asked who had the actual title, they told me that my older brother was legally the head of the family. Sirius only named me his heir so I would still inherit something."

"You make it sound like we're nobility or something," joked Genesis.

Harry pulled out a box.

"This was supposed to go to you when you turned seventeen, or had an heir of your own, whichever came first."

Genesis opened the box...and choked. It was clearly an old ring, and not something a normal person would wear. The metal alone was high quality, as was the gem...never mind the obvious crest on it.

He stared at his little brother. Harry smirked at him.

"You were officially named Lord Potter when you turned seventeen, since according to their records you were merely lost, not dead like everyone assumed."

"Lord?" he said faintly.

"Lord of the Ancient and _noble_ house of Potter, which goes back at least eight hundred years," said Harry far too cheerfully. "According to the records I found anyway. On the other hand, I'm the head of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, thanks to Sirius and the fact that our paternal grandmother married into the Potter family."

Angeal...looked very much like he wanted to laugh at the expression on Genesis's face.

"How _did_ Genesis end up in Banora?" asked Angeal. Genesis was still reeling from being nobility of all things.

"Long story short, the minions of the man who murdered our parents thought that they could summon him from wherever he was banished to. However the spell failed and as a side effect, instead of summoning their master they accidentally _banished_ my older brother here."

Genesis blinked.

"Wait...you mean someone was trying to use a summon materia to bring back a _human_?"

Harry grimaced.

"Considering the Statute doesn't even exist here, and you would have learned this stuff anyway if you hadn't accidentally been sent away..." he mostly said to himself before pulling out...a stick?

"What's a stick got to do with anything?" asked Angeal, confused.

"It's not just a stick," said Harry, before a mischievous gleam entered his eyes. It was far too familiar to Angeal, as he saw Genesis have the same one all the time before a prank.

He felt something odd pass over him, and the second Genesis turned to look at him he gaped...before falling on the floor and literally laughing his ass off.

"What's so funny?" asked Angeal.

Harry helpfully conjured up a mirror. Angeal took one look at his hair and groaned.

"Please tell me this isn't permanent!"

His hair was _pink_. Not a sedate pink, but a proper _girly_ pink any five-year-old would be proud of. No wonder Genesis was cracking up.

"It'll wear off in an hour. On an unrelated note I am totally giving this Zack character that Genesis keeps whining about dog ears and a tail. It's mostly harmless, so it won't effect his combat skills."

Genesis looked at his brother like he had been sent from the Lifestream solely to make his life even better. Angeal...had a migraine as he realized Genesis not only had an enabler, but someone perfectly capable of pulling even _more_ pranks on people who annoyed his best friend.

"Leave me out of your pranks," said Angeal finally.

Harry's smile was so 'innocent' it was clearly fake. Genesis cracked up even more.


	2. Chapter 2

Genesis was beyond thrilled to have a little brother like Harry. None more so than the day he had to bring his brother/apprentice with him into Sephiroth's office.

Harry took one look at him and bluntly stated with an incredulous tone...

"When the hell was the last time you actually _slept_? I can see the bags under your eyes from halfway across the room!"

Dead silence.

Sephiroth stared at him in confusion and some disbelief.

"...I lost count after the third day," he quietly admitted.

"Coffee is only going to make the crash worse you know. Why didn't you simply unplug the phone and freeze the door with an ice materia so that no one could come in and bother you? I bet you could easily invest in noise cancelling headphones and if anyone asks tell them that the door jammed or something," said Harry flatly.

Sephiroth...looked like he wanted to smack himself. It was a simple solution and kept anyone from adding to his already massive workload while he was trying to get a nap in.

Genesis snickered.

"You are such a mother hen."

Harry turned to look at him with a flat expression.

"I'm sorry, was that a request to go back to take out or worse, the slop they call 'food' in the mess hall for a week?" he said sweetly.

Genesis back-peddled _very_ quickly.

"I'll shut up!" he said with horror in his tone.

He couldn't go back to take out. Harry's cooking not only tasted better than anything he could get (without having to dodge his fan club) but it was easier on his paycheck. That and he never had to check for poison or anything, just a few minor prank potions.

Even _Angeal_ donated his check in exchange for eating over a lot, when he discovered the difference. Having a reliable cook who they could trust was more than worth the cook's weight in coin.

A few hours later, Genesis gleefully told Harry how Sephiroth's door "mysteriously" jammed and the phones were 'broken'. Harry snorted, because it was clear Sephiroth had taken his advice to get some sleep without making it obvious.

"Harry! Are you alright?" said Cloud with concern. "I went to check the hospital and heard Commander Genesis took you away."

"Shit...I am so sorry Cloud, I honestly forgot to tell you in the excitement," said Harry sheepishly.

"Tell me what?" asked Cloud.

"I have an older brother. That's the main reason I joined the Cadet program, despite being too 'weak' to be a proper SOLDIER right away," said Harry.

"You have an older brother? Is he in SOLDIER too?"

Harry looked a tad embarrassed.

"Cloud...my older brother is Genesis. Apparently one of his fans noticed the strong resemblance and ran a test without authorization. When the doctor found out, he called the Commander."

"Why?" asked Cloud.

"Partially because it's standard procedure to alert family, especially if they're commanding officers, when one of their own is injured, but mostly to insure that the test wasn't being faked because everyone 'knew' Genesis was an only child. He had Sephiroth run it again just to be sure, and it came up the same."

Cloud looked happy for him...he knew how much Harry wanted to have family he could actually admit to being related to.

"So how did he react? Commander Genesis I mean."

"He's thrilled. Partially because I actually know how to cook, but also because I keep making these remarks that make him laugh so hard he has trouble breathing."

Cloud looked at him suspiciously.

"What sort of remarks?"

"The ones that nearly got me lynched by Sephiroth's fan club last week."

"Oh gods," said Cloud horrified. "No wonder he found you hilarious...he has a massive rivalry with Sephiroth!"

Harry suddenly spotted a figure, and smirked.

"What are you up to?" demanded Cloud.

"You'll see."

"Oh no, I am not letting you out of my sight! Last time you had that look in your eye, you turned everyone's boxers pink for a week!" said Cloud.

"Taught them not to shove their dirty laundry on me, didn't it?" said Harry.

Cloud groaned. Why was he friends with this idiot?

Oh yes, he remembered now. Because Harry was the only one who actually _encouraged_ him, patched him up and was actually _nice_ to him without being condescending about it.

The blond cadet would later admit, Harry's prank was _hilarious_. Seeing Zack Fair chasing his tail, quite literally, was beyond funny. Especially with the ears!

"So did you hear about general Sephiroth?" asked Cloud.

"What about him?"

"Something jammed his door and messed with the phone lines. Not even his PHS worked," said Cloud.

"Yeah right. More like he took my suggestion and ran with it."

"What suggestion?" asked Cloud, eyes narrowing.

"I told him to freeze his door, unplug the phone and get some noise canceling headphones so he could nap, rather than survive on only coffee and take out."

Cloud facepalmed.

"Why would you tell him something like that?"

"He can put on the 'perfect SOLDIER' front all he likes, but the poor guy had massive bags under his eyes and looked like shit. The human body can't run on limited to no sleep and fuel, regardless of what that creepy Hojo says," said Harry flatly. "He certainly seemed less tense when I saw him last."

"I can't believe you keep spreading that rumor Hojo has a 'creepy sex dungeon'."

"Have you _seen_ the things that come out of his labs? I bet Sephiroth is stiff all the time because he's been repressing _years_ of trauma and memories of things that should never be seen!" said Harry.

Hearing a snicker, Harry smirked.

"Then again, I bet Genesis and Angeal would have more knowledge on whatever Hollander has in _his_ dungeon. I bet they had to turn to each other in order to deal with the horrors."

Hearing them sputter, Harry turned to face his horrified brother.

"Or is there something you're not telling me about your relationship with Angeal and Sephiroth?"

"Where the hell did you get such weird ideas?" asked Genesis, to Cloud's horror.

"I'm a sexually repressed teenager in the military," deadpanned Harry. "_Obviously_ I'm going to need the proper material to work with, or my mind will produce it on it's own. Don't ask, don't tell and all that."

Genesis snorted.

"I came to get you because Angeal won't stop bitching about Zack's new 'features'. Apparently the puppy likes them so much he can't stop chasing his tail and it's annoying Angeal."

Harry grinned.

And much to Cloud's mortification, the green-eyed teen started to drag him along.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" he hissed.

"Oh come on Cloud, I know damn well you're one of Sephiroth's more discreet fans. At least you don't have wet dreams of the man like half the idiots in the barracks. Think of it this way...if you make a good enough impression on him he might be convinced to turn you into his personal gofer, I mean _apprentice_."

Genesis snickered.

"Besides, if we word it right then odds are you'll mostly be hanging around Zack and getting instruction from Angeal who uses the sword you're so enamored with."

"You mean you're going to try and give the puppy a chocobo?" said Genesis snickering, though he saw where Harry was coming from.

The 'Elite Three' didn't have _nearly_ enough time to all be training apprentices. Especially Sephiroth.

However nothing said they couldn't pool their limited time together to train their minions (Harry's words) collectively and allow them to train their asses off while their mentors were busy so that they could show how much they actually _learned_.

Zack looked even _more_ like a puppy than ever with those ears and tail. It was wagging a hundred times a minute.

Even Sephiroth was there, to his amusement.

"Are you the one who did this? You _have_ to tell me how you pulled it off!" said Zack thrilled.

Harry snickered.

"And to think, you didn't have to go through Hojo's creepy sex dungeon to get them."

Sephiroth and Angeal choked and looked at him in disbelief.

"'Creepy sex dungeon'?" repeated Sephiroth.

"Well you would know more about it than we do, since Hojo seems to like you best sir," said Harry with a straight face. "I always thought the reason you looked like you had a stick up your ass was from repressed trauma of things that should never be seen in his creepy sex dungeon, or worse being forced to participate in them."

Sephiroth gaped at him, while Genesis started _howling_.

"Please stop! My sides can't take much more abuse!" cackled Genesis. Angeal looked like he had a migraine, while Zack was staring at him in awe.

Cloud did the only sensible thing he could.

He slapped Harry on the side of the head with a tired sigh.

"I still don't get why you would think he has one," deadpanned Cloud.

"Have you _seen_ what comes out of the science department?" said Harry incredulous. "Never mind that thing I ran into the sewers that last time. I mean, what the actual fuck was that thing _made_ of?!"

Zack managed to gather his wits long enough to say something, much to Angeal's dismay.

"You know that would explain so much about some of the things I've seen wandering around these days..." he mused. Harry looked at Cloud triumphant. "Though why did your mind go 'creepy sex dungeon' and not 'unholy experiment'?"

"Sexually repressed teenager without a girlfriend," deadpanned Harry. "Or boyfriend, considering the unofficial don't ask, don't tell policy."

Zack snickered.

"That would do it."

Cloud shared a long-suffering look with Sephiroth.

"Can you please remove the tail, at least?" asked Angeal.

Harry looked a tad sheepish.

"I sorta can't?" he said.

"What."

"I mean I used a spell to help people figure out what their animal form is, and the fact the ears and tail are missing is because Zack botched the transformation back. I actually turned him into a massive wolf puppy for five minutes when I hit him with it."

"Wait...are you telling me I can turn into a wolf?" said Zack excitedly.

"Or wolfhound. Wasn't too sure on the breed, just that it had big paws."

Seeing his interest, Harry smirked.

"If you want to learn how to do the full transformation, I can show you how later. Would have done it to Cloud, but I didn't think he'd appreciate turning into an actual Chocobo."

Cloud glared at him.

"Just because my hair is spiky doesn't make me a chocobo!" he said irate.

Genesis hadn't stopped snickering since Harry mentioned the 'creepy sex dungeon'. His little brother was a riot, and the perfect way to cheer up. Then his mind caught up on the comment about 'animal transformation' and he looked at his little brother with eager eyes.

"Yes, Genesis, I can use it on you. I brought the book Sirius left me on how to do it without any help from people who know what they're doing, and I know the spell to reverse it in case you get stuck."

Genesis looked at him with glee.

"So you can't remove them?"

"He's still enjoying the novelty of the ears and tail," said Harry. "Wait until the fan clubs get a look at them and start hounding after his ass, then see whether he would be willing to keep them out constantly."

Angeal sighed...Harry made a valid point.

"That being said I do have something in my possession that would give Hojo something _other_ than Sephiroth on the brain come the time for your injections," said Harry.

Sephiroth looked at him intently.

"I'm listening."

"You agree to take Cloud on as an apprentice on a trial basis, and I'll prank the living shit out of Hojo so that he's more interested in cleaning up after my tricks than hovering over you," said Harry.

Sephiroth looked at Genesis.

"How good is he?"

"No idea, I only just found out about him," said Genesis.

"You know that prank on the Turks last month where they were all wearing bright orange instead of dark blue for a solid three days?" said Harry. "That was me."

The three Firsts stared at him in disbelief.

_Everyone_ was still talking about that prank, because it had been the Turks who were hit. Tseng was still spitting nails about it.

"Deal," said Sephiroth.

Harry pushed Cloud towards the silver haired man.

"Well Cloud, try to survive the trial by fire he gives you," he said smirking.

"Wha..." said Cloud in shock, before he glared at Harry, who just smiled cheekily at him.

A month later, Hojo was positively _furious_, Sephiroth was loosening up, and Cloud was officially his hero's apprentice.

On an unrelated note, the number of dog toys "mysteriously" appearing in Zack's things went up exponentially after it came out he could now turn_ into_ an actual dog.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry felt like his heart was about to stop. Genesis had been in a nasty training accident and it was only because he shared the same blood type that he had been alerted. Genesis had lost quite a bit...not enough to be fatal, but enough that a donation would speed up his recovery a lot.

Harry had the same blood type as his brother.

Angeal let him inside, and Harry had to repress a shiver when he saw Hollander. Fortunately it was a simple blood transfusion, which was done relatively quickly despite the fact that Harry _loathed_ hospitals.

But he hated seeing his brother looking like crap even more.

Genesis was allowed to leave the next morning, but he still looked somewhat ill. However he would rather recover in his own apartment than be near Hollander any longer than he had to.

Which was why Harry was trying his best to help him when Genesis suddenly started vomitting some sort of black muck, with the wound on his shoulder weeping the same thing.

Whatever it was, it was beyond foul and didn't belong.

For the next day and a half, Genesis tried to recover from the sudden loss of fluids and the sheer drain in energy he had. Harry had the next week off after explaining things to Sephiroth, to better care for his brother.

When Genesis could sit up again, he blinked.

"I feel better."

"Well of course you feel better, considering the high fever and the amount of throwing up you've been doing for the past day and a half!" snapped Harry.

"No, I mean I feel better than normal," said Genesis. "I've always felt this weird ache, especially after certain injections and now it's gone. It's hard to describe."

Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his brother. He went and retrieved his fully mastered healing materia.

**Curaga**_**.**_

The wound on Genesis' shoulder healed instantly, when before it refused to heal any more than an 'Episkey' could do.

Harry looked at his brother seriously.

"What exactly is in the 'special' injections Hollander gives you?"

"I have no idea," said Genesis. "All I know is that certain ones hurt worse than the general mako does. Whatever it was you did, it must have purged the special crap from my system."

"What do you mean?"

Genesis shivered.

"The specials always caused me to have these weird hallucinations. Whispers, mostly...and someone trying to make me think they were mother."

Harry's stomach dropped. He went to get his wand and a book he had brought after all the grief he had dealing with his scar.

He never thought he would have to use it on his brother.

Genesis didn't flinch at the spells Harry used, though he could tell something was happening.

"Possession. Low-ranked, and very insidious. Whatever was in those 'special' injections was _deliberately _opening up your magic so that something could take control over you. However from the looks of this, something is forcibly purging your system of it...though you'll still be somewhat susceptible to the source. Just not enough to be taken over immediately."

Genesis went pale.

"Oh gods... Angeal gets the same injections I do!"

Harry's eyes widened.

"Call him. Now."

Two hours later, a very confused Angeal arrived with Zack.

"What is going on?"

Harry started casting the same spells, before swearing profusely. In several different languages and a few from Gaia for good measure.

"He's contaminated, though from what I see Zack isn't nearly as bad off. Whatever is in the special injections must be the cause," said Harry.

Angeal and Zack looked highly alarmed at that.

Genesis swore.

"Gods-damned Hollander! I bet he knew about it! He always put more emphasis on Angeal than me, and he makes out our injections personally!"

"I wouldn't be surprised. Considering the horror stories I heard about Mako, I would be you anything he's expecting _something_ bad to happen and soon...naturally the only one you would be able to turn to is him and he's made no bones about the fact he's pissed he keeps getting ignored in favor of Hojo."

Genesis paled.

"What can we do?" asked Angeal.

"I'm stepping up our spell training," said Harry firmly. "I bet you anything that part of what he's expecting is some sort of mutation...that would tip either of you over pretty quick I would bet. We might want to have an outside opinion do an examination of you, just in case. There's no telling what is actually happening to your bodies with those injections and gods know those deranged idiots won't tell you anything that would turn you against them."

"What about Sephiroth?" blurted Zack.

Harry winced.

"Knowing Hojo, I wouldn't be shocked if Sephiroth was _saturated_ with whatever is in the 'special injections'."

The others winced as well.

"What a mess," sighed Angeal.

"Which is why we're all going to discreetly book a trip to Nibelhiem," said Harry.

"What?" said Genesis.

"Nibelheim. It's where Sephiroth was born and spent a decent enough chunk of his childhood that we might have an idea of what the hell is actually going on. At least enough to work with as a starting point."

Seeing the stares he got, Harry blinked.

"You mean you didn't know?"

"Harry, very little of Sephiroth's _personal_ information is known. Hojo tends to keep that so close to his chest that it's nearly impossible to find out anything...believe me, Sephiroth has tried," said Angeal slowly. "He has no idea who his mother even is, for example."

"Lucrecia Crescent. I saw it in the notes I found," said Harry. "Though why Hojo kept acting as though an ancient fossil found by the guy before him was Sephiroth's mother, I still don't get."

Dead silence.

"I'm calling Sephiroth. He needs to hear this," said Angeal, being the first to recover. Surprisingly, Genesis didn't object to Sephiroth being in his apartment.

"Better bring Cloud too... he's from Nibelhiem and has local knowledge," Harry added. Angeal nodded.

"I...am going to get the booze. Somehow I have the feeling we're all going to need it by the end of this," offered Zack.

"Bring back ingredients!" shouted Genesis.

"Better yet, order the best pizza you can find," Harry shot back.

Zack nodded, and accepted the cash handed to him.

* * *

Sephiroth's stared was downright creepy...if you hadn't had to face a pissed off mothering dragon, among other things. Harry met it without hesitation.

"You know who my mother is."

"Not personally, but I stumbled across the information on the way to Midgar to join the company. I was flat ass broke and the mansion was the only place I could find before the storm hit and I froze my ass off. It had far too many monsters, but it was still free."

Sephiroth could believe that. Harry was fairly good at dispatching monsters with magic, having an uncanny aim with his spells.

"What do you know?"

"Her name was Lucrecia Crescent. I couldn't find anything after you were born, but according to records she managed to survive giving birth to you. From what I saw she was also married to Hojo, but I have honest doubts he's your actual father with the number of injection records I found prior to your actual birth. For all we know, it may have delayed the natural time frame of conception to make it harder to determine who the actual father is. She wouldn't be the first to marry because she was with child and didn't want to be looked down upon for not having a solid father in the background."

Sephiroth blinked, but silently agreed. With Hojo's experiments, it _was_ possible that the time between conception and his actual birth was delayed enough to hide who the real father was.

"I also found plenty of records stating you lived in that mansion for at least five to six years after you were born. Let me tell you, that was _not_ pleasant reading."

Sephiroth grimaced...he could easily imagine.

"So there are no leads then."

"Not exactly," said Harry slowly.

Seeing the looks everyone was giving him, he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"There _is_ someone who might have answers, but I'm not sure if he'd be willing to help. Then again, from the impression I got he had a thing for Lucrecia so he might since you're her son. Actually, now that I think about it, you have a _really_ strong resemblance to him Sephiroth."

"Strong?"

"As in the colors almost looked inverted and he favored guns more than swords," stated Harry. "Other than that, he had the same fluid grace you do."

Sephiroth perked up at that.

"What's his name?" asked Angeal.

"Vincent Valentine. Officially dead, but considering this is _Hojo_ we're talking about..."

He didn't need to say more. Dead didn't mean there was a corpse...it was possible Hojo had lied on the records to get an experiment no one would ask too many questions about later.

"Nibelhiem, you said?" said Sephiroth.

"You book a vacation along with Genesis, or have him assigned close enough to the area that I can work a little magic so that no one realizes we're taking a massive detour."

"...Does this have anything to do with the fact that the Silver Elite have been harassing me less?" asked Sephiroth seriously.

"Those fan girls are insane. No one deserves _that_ headache," said Harry firmly. "On an unrelated note if you wear your bracer more they'll keep avoiding you."

Seeing the intent gazes of the others, Harry grinned.

"I can add the same spell to your favorite weapons. I couldn't do it with Musamune because that summoning trick of his disrupts it."

"Best. Brother. Ever," said Genesis, hugging Harry tightly.

"So how are you going to deal with people noticing us being somewhere we shouldn't be?" asked Genesis.

"Don't they usually send SOLDIERs to check the reactors?" asked Harry to Sephiroth.

"Normally. As a matter of fact, I know one of those has crossed my desk recently from the Science department... with how much paperwork I have, I haven't been able to do more than glance at it," confirmed Sephiroth.

"Genesis goes on vacation, and convinces Lazard to send me along as his 'minder'. Find out where that reactor inspection is meant for and see if you can't switch it to Nibelhiem... I know Cloud mentioned they had one," said Harry. Cloud nodded. "Naturally it would only make tactical sense to bring Cloud with you, as he's your apprentice and he's a local."

* * *

"Wait, what?"

"Well how else am I supposed to share embarrassing stories directly with your mum?" said Harry 'innocently'.

Cloud looked horrified.

"Don't you dare!"

"What about lodging?" asked Genesis.

"Let me handle that. I have a special tent that's similar to the ones sold here, but permanent...and far bigger than the ones available. We certainly won't be roughing it," said Harry dismissively.

"I want to see this," said Genesis with a smirk.

Harry shrugged, before going to get the small trunk that carried everything he possessed.

Genesis wasn't surprised by the 'large' space within...clearly his brother had gotten ahold of some Science department toy that had fallen through the cracks for one reason or another.

It was the tent that threw him.

"What the actual fuck?!" shouted Genesis once inside.

The others in the room shared a look, before going inside themselves...and their jaws dropped.

"What the hell?" said Sephiroth in shock.

"Did I not mention expansion charms are very much a 'thing' where I'm from, and that this is actually a pretty low-end model?" said Harry innocently.

"How is this 'low-end'?" said Genesis incredulous. This had to be at _least_ the same size as his adopted parent's manor!

"Because it only has two stories, not a full castle," said Harry. "I've seen trunks with multiple rooms and a full lab for sale."

Genesis stared at him.

"Again, I went with the low-end because it meant I could have them put as many security charms on the tent itself instead of more rooms I wasn't going to use anyway. This place is a veritable fortress when I turn those on."

"...Little brother, when we find a proper space to set up on vacation, you are going to tell me _everything_."

"Wouldn't you rather see it, instead? I mean it would be third person but it's faster than explaining and I could cut to the chase right after."

"How?" asked Sephiroth with interest.

Harry went and got a carved bowl.

"This is a pensieve. With a wand you can place memories inside and by dipping something like a finger in you can see the memories contained. I have no idea how to stop or restart them, but it would allow you to see far more than simple explanations could since that would take days with my luck."

"Can anyone place memories inside?" asked Sephiroth intently.

"It's best not to mix memories, or you might not know who's is who's. However I could show you the general process or remove them myself. And before you ask, it doesn't effect the actual memory...it makes a copy from what I was told," said Harry.

Sephiroth nodded satisfied. Still this was a valuable tool and Harry had little doubt that he would eventually be tracking down the right materials to make a wand for the man sooner or later...or figure out how to do it wandlessly.


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Genesis did was to give Harry a suffocating hug the _second_ he left the penseive. He had thought his childhood sucked, with how his parents acted.

Harry's was far worse. However it did lead to a _lot_ of questions.

"You're not from this world, are you?"

"Neither are you, but no. Believe me, if not for Vincent's help I would have stood out a _lot_ more than I did when I got here," said Harry.

If not for Vincent's help in combat and materia use, not to mention general knowledge that didn't go out of date easily, Harry would have been busted by the Turks ages ago.

(Though in a way he _had,_ because Vincent was a former Turk.)

Genesis felt sick to his stomach. What he had seen made his childhood _nice_ in comparison. At least he had Angeal, and his parents didn't treat him like a slave. That plus the fact no one had been there to help his brother through his grief or his first kill had only made things worse.

So yeah, he wasn't letting his little brother sleep alone until they were back in Midgar.

"So how long will it take us to reach Nibelhiem?"

"Traveling normally? Three days."

Genesis grinned at his brother.

"I take it you have a short cut."

"We have a few options, actually," admitted Harry. "First is apparition...took me a week to get that one down because of all the visualization exercises Vincent put me through when he found out what it was."

Genesis shuddered. He remembered the _one_ time Harry put him through that.

"Never again."

"Yeah, I hate using it too. Second is portkeys."

"Pass. I like to keep my lunch where it is thank you," said Genesis.

Harry nodded in agreement. He disliked most wizarding methods of travel.

"Third is brooms. Fortunately I did bring extras, but we might need a few hours to get you used to flying one."

"Brooms?" said Genesis.

Harry summoned his Firebolt, and sat on it. It was pretty clear he was very used to flying from the way he held himself.

Genesis gaped.

"You are so teaching me!" he said grinning.

Harry grinned back. He got another broom, a Nimbus 2002 this time.

He set it on the ground.

"Put your dominant hand over the broom and say 'up'," said Harry.

"Up!" said Genesis eagerly.

The broom smacked into his hand.

"Well you're not afraid of heights at least. Now, watch how I position my hands...and before you say anything, if you make any lewd jokes I will hit you," deadpanned Harry. "Believe me, I've heard _every_ variant of how to handle my broom and my wand since I made the team."

Genesis pouted, but kept his mouth shut.

From what he saw, Harry spent five years in a boarding school full of 'sexually repressed teenagers', as his brother had put it. Odds are he _had_ heard almost every variant.

Genesis was soon flying more or less like a pro after three hours. However his ass was killing him.

"How are you fine?"

"I _like_ flying, and I'm used to flying in intense conditions while dodging cannonballs attempting to cave my head in," said Harry flatly.

"...Point."

"Which is why tomorrow we are flying straight to Rocket Town, then possibly to Nibelhiem. Just remember to follow my lead...the last thing we need is ShinRa learning we can fly without machines."

_The next evening, shortly after sunset..._

Genesis was beyond tired, but the simple fact was that they had gotten a lot farther than they would have on foot or even by Chocobo. Once he got the hang of flying, it was a lot of fun. Harry was a master of giving his older brother heart attacks, with the stunts he pulled. In fact the only way faster would have been through helicopter, but he preferred the broom.

Sure, it was a bit slower but it couldn't be traced and he was able to do all sorts of thing on it.

"Gods, my ass is killing me."

"I _did_ warn you," said Harry. "On the plus side, we might be able to take a chocobo into Rocket Town, and possibly to Nibelhiem."

"Thank the gods!" said Genesis. "As much as I love flying, brooms are something I haven't gotten used to yet."

Harry snickered.

"At least we aren't roughing it like we could be. Can you imagine the 'fun' of having to sleep with all those bugs?"

Genesis shuddered.

"Thank you magic," he said firmly.

He actually loved camping, but bugs? Not a chance. Not after that one mission in Wutai where he ran into the mosquitos from hell that nearly ate him _alive_.

"By the way, what was with all the snakes in the trunk?" he asked.

"I like snakes. That and they helped me master the local language faster. Vincent had to help me read though," said Harry.

"...Helped you master the local language?" repeated Genesis.

"You'd be surprised how much faster it is to master a language when it's converted into a base one," said Harry.

Genesis stared at him. Harry pulled out something he had been meaning to give Genesis anyway, but kept forgetting.

"Can you read this? Just know I do have a general idea of the book so you can't bluff your way through it."

Genesis scoffed, opened the book...and couldn't read a word of it.

"What the hell is this?"

"English," said Harry. "Though to be fair, I did just hand you a collection of Shakespeare's best work."

"Who?"

"He was a playright that made many plays like that _Loveless_ you're obsessed with. Like _Macbeth_, which is a story of how power corrupts, or the tragic love story of _Romeo and Juliette,_ who were born to rival families and decided that death would be preferable than parting with each other," said Harry.

"Seriously?"

Harry grinned.

"Macbeth was a minor noble related to the king, and through treachery and the convincing of his wife, took the throne by murdering his royal cousin. However in the end he was killed as well by those who opposed him."

Genesis stared at him.

"...That is _nothing_ like _Loveless_."

"Well that's just a sample of his work. There's also lighthearted ones like _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, which involves faeries. Or if that isn't to your taste there's others. I have copies in the small library inside the tent. Of course you would have to learn how to read it first."

Genesis glared at him.

"Relax, I can teach you the basics and if nothing else ask me what a word means," said Harry. "If nothing else I can get a kick out of explaining _Lord of the Rings_ or _Dragonriders of Pern_ to you."

(When Genesis finally mastered English to the point he could read it, he became hooked on the classics...including, amusingly enough, Shakespeare. Harry was more than happy to let him raid his library.)

Sephiroth made a beeline for the ShinRa mansion after Cloud made a 'passing' comment about it. Oddly enough, he didn't have to alter the mission orders for the reactor inspection.

The mission from the Science department was for him specifically and a small number of men, for Nibelhiem. Apparently the Science department (read: Hojo) wanted to be sure it was still functioning properly and wanted Sephiroth to personally inspect some old research he had up there that was too bulky to move to Midgar.

There he found Genesis and Harry waiting... it looked like Harry was teaching Genesis something.

"What are you two doing?"

"Teaching him to read English. He's been picking up the spoken language quickly enough, but his ability to read it still needs work," said Harry. "So did anyone notice the alterations?"

"Oddly enough, it wasn't needed. I was personally selected to inspect the reactor and some experiment Hojo left behind."

Harry frowned.

"Somehow I have the _worst_ feeling Potter Luck is attempting to bite us all in the ass in the most spectacular way."

"Potter Luck?" repeated Genesis.

Harry turned to him with a dry expression.

"The sort of luck that makes you the luckiest bastard in the world during an adventure you should be dead on, or the unluckiest because it's just thrown you into the biggest FUBAR situation on the planet right before turning again so that you at least survive. On an unrelated note, the more chaotic your luck is, the better you tend to do when it comes to games of chance."

Genesis' eyes gleamed as Sephiroth's narrowed.

"Is that why he always somehow wins at poker?" he demanded.

"Likely," said Harry grinning.

"You son of a bitch! I knew there was a reason you introduced double-dog jackass poker to the barracks!" said Cloud irate.

"Hey, it let you see that ass of a Second run around in his skivvies before he got busted didn't it? The guy deserved a little humiliation."

"Zack managed to con me into a _dress_ because of it! I got hit on by the gods-damned _President_ because you insisted on introducing him to the game!"

Harry cackled, and he wasn't the only one. Sephiroth looked like he had a migraine, because _he_ had been the one to rescue Cloud that night.

"So, where is this contact of yours?"

"Probably still in the crypt. Remember, he's the best chance you have for answers so ignore the labs," said Harry.

"We will follow you," said Sephiroth.

Harry lead them straight to the library, and pulled down an obvious trigger. It slid open to reveal...a foldable ladder?

"Last time I was here, there were steps that were heavily degraded. I destroyed them and anchored this in their place as I didn't have the inclination to replace them," explained Harry.

Harry went down first, though the two SOLDIERs merely jumped down. Cloud wisely followed Harry's lead.

For the next fifteen minutes they took out the various monsters that had taken over after Harry had cleaned the place out at last.

When they reached the crypt, Sephiroth was more than a little impatient for answers.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone, brat," a voice called out from the dark.

"But I brought friends...and someone very much wants to meet you," Harry said with a sing-song tone.

He unlocked the door with his wand...to reveal a man in red.

He looked rather unamused at being woken up, though why he insisted on sleeping in such a depressing place was a mystery.

"Come on Vinny, I did bring someone that might cheer you up enough to leave this depressing place."

"For the last time my name is not 'Vinny'," said the figure with a very long-suffering sigh.

"He actually calls you _Vinny_?" said Genesis amused. Now he could see why Harry thought this Valentine guy might have answers. If they reversed the colors a bit, he would be a dead ringer for Sephiroth.

The second Sephiroth stepped out into the light, Vincent's eyes narrowed on him completely.

"Besides... I think you would have a _lot_ to talk about with Sephiroth here," said Harry with a smirk.

Vincent glared at him, but his eyes kept going back to Sephiroth.

He was still going to use that little shit as target practice later though.

Harry, Genesis and Cloud were giving Sephiroth and Vincent the semblance of privacy while letting them talk. Meanwhile Harry was displaying exactly what he meant by Potter Luck making them rather good at games of chance...by beating his older brother and Cloud at exploding snap.

Genesis, being the firebug he was, immediately_ loved_ the game. Cloud was already bemoaning the loss of his eyebrows from it.

"I am going to kill Hojo," snarled Sephiroth.

"Is this because of the creepy sex dungeon or because you just found out what an asshole he is?" Harry said without looking up.

Vincent choked slightly at the 'creepy sex dungeon' comment.

Sephiroth just looked pissed.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't kill Hojo. But we do have to keep up appearances that you're still following orders until we have a chance to clean house," said Harry, finally ending the game.

"What do you have in mind?" asked Genesis.

"I'll go inspect the reactor with Vincent, Sephiroth does his report based on the memories, and then we plot out how to kill Hojo and insure his little plans never come to fruition," said Harry flatly.

"That could work, but why do you not want me to go to the reactor?" asked Sephiroth.

"Do you really want to follow an order that Hojo _specifically_ gave to you, knowing what you do about his...inclinations?"

"...Question retracted," said Sephiroth after a moment.

Clearly Hojo was planning something, and the smart move was to send someone who didn't have mako running through them and hadn't been subjected to the 'special injections' from any of the scientists. Naturally Vincent would act as his back-up since he actually knew what he was doing.


	5. Chapter 5

Hojo was beyond unhappy when Sephiroth returned from Nibelhiem and reported "no change" in the condition of the reactor...beyond a complaint that the Science Department clean up after their older experiments properly. He made it sound as if some of Hojo's earlier work had gotten out and attacked him while he was inspecting the reactor.

However the biggest change was the fact Sephiroth had basically commandeered Genesis' apprentice as his new secretary, after having fired the one he already had for 'gross incompetence'.

The fact Genesis didn't raise a stink about it surprised many...until they realized why.

With Harry close to Sephiroth, it gave him ample ability to cause all sorts of chaos in full view of his older brother, who gleefully watched the aftermath. More to the point were the comments and suggestions Harry made that would have Genesis in stitches for an hour at least.

However there was one _major_ reason Sephiroth chose Harry as his new secretary, beyond the fact that the teen was rather adept at redirecting idiots while Sephiroth was working.

Harry would have made a terrible SOLDIER. While he was in the cadet program, his natural skills were languishing because the SOLDIER program had different values and requirements, and Harry started off the wrong foot thanks to his early childhood.

Genesis might not have had an idea childhood, but he had some support, was fed properly and was allowed to follow his own path.

Harry had been malnourished, and was forced to stunt himself to avoid even more abuse because he was naturally better than his lazy cousin, had next to no proper support, and on top of that had an issue with following orders with how often the authority figures in his life had failed him completely.

As a result his growth was stunted and his natural abilities were far more in line with the Turks, rather than SOLDIER.

The problem was that Harry would _never_ be as loyal to the company as the Turks would like, which meant his career path would have been stunted once that became clear.

Sephiroth had noticed Harry's natural ability to lead, which was why he came up with the perfect plan to help the boy learn through close proximity to all three generals.

However Harry was so efficient at his job that it left him with a surprising amount of free time.

Though perhaps that had a lot to do with the fact that Harry spent the bulk of his time redirecting people who wanted to waste Sephiroth's valuable time and giving Hojo the run around with great glee.

And since Harry _really_ disliked Hojo, he decided to find new ways to make the scientist's life miserable. The wicked grin he had on his face when he found the _perfect_ way to do that made shivers go down the spines of the three generals.

_A few days later..._

If Rufus Shinra was surprised to see Genesis' younger brother in his office, he made no show of it.

At least until he realized the kid was carrying a file.

"What is this?"

"The expenditure and profit made from the Science Department, as well as their annual budget compared to the other departments," said Harry bluntly.

Rufus opened it up...and immediately frowned.

"Is this accurate?"

"I borrowed Sephiroth's passcode in order to make copies. If you look at the documents, you'll see that the expenditures of the Science Department are higher than any other department in the company... the SOLDIER program barely takes up even a tenth of the massive budget Hojo demands for his department, and they overspend on projects that make next to no money for the company at all. Compared to the Urban Development department, which always remains in budget and keeps expenditures for their projects to reasonable limits, the Science department is wasting more money than it's making."

Harry's plan to get rid of Hojo was brilliant in it's simplicity. He merely followed the money trail and brought it to the one person who wouldn't be intimidated by Hojo's position. The President was stupid enough to blindly trust that insane scientist, but his son was less inclined to waste money on a place that might not even exist.

Besides, general audits were under Rufus' control in the first place.

Rufus twitched the more he read off the document Harry brought him.

Harry had to hide a smirk as he noticed people asking pointed questions about the Science Department, among others.

Sephiroth, forewarned of the headache Harry had planned for Hojo, had already turned in the expense reports for the past three years.

In less than a week, Rufus had already discovered the information Harry had brought to him wasn't an exaggeration...if anything, it was understating how much money the Science department wasted on a _monthly_ basis.

* * *

"Okay, I'll bite. How exactly did you convince Rufus Shinra to fire Hojo _and_ Hollander?" asked Sephiroth.

Vincent looked equally interested in that information.

"Easy. I showed them how much money Hojo was wasting every month with his so-called experiments and pointed out that what he spent wasn't being earned back. It's the same reason that fool Scarlet had _her_ budget cut by half, and Palmer got fired. On an unrelated note, the Turks and the Urban Development departments have been singing my praises because their budgets went up by at least twice what it was," said Harry smugly.

Sephiroth smirked.

"The SOLDIERs and the Infantry are just as happy...everyone is going to get a raise," said Sephiroth. "Don't be surprised if the men declare you a hero for it."

"Yeah, but I bet Hojo is pissed as hell that I effectively cut off his main source of funding and took away his favorite test subject."

Sephiroth glared at him for that one.

"Don't remind me," he said flatly.

"On the plus side, Gen and Angeal have a legitimate reason to hunt down and gut Hollander now!" said Harry chipperly. "And you now have a reason to kill Hojo for his creepy sex dungeons!"

"For the last time, Hojo didn't have a 'creepy sex dungeon!'" said Sephiroth loudly.

Only to realize several Turks and a few of the more gossipy SOLDIERs heard him.

"I hate you so much right now," said Sephiroth.

"Sorry Seph, but I'm pretty sure I don't swing that way. At least not for you anyway," said Harry flirtatiously.

Genesis walked in on that comment and just started cackling.

"Best. Brother. Ever."

Cloud, being the only 'sane' friend Harry had, did the wise thing.

He slapped Harry on the head. Harry pouted.

"You're always so mean to me wolf-boy," he pouted.

"Quit embarrassing Sephiroth," he chided.

"Why? I mean I'm the only one outside of Gen who teases him at all and tries to bring out the sense of humor Hojo tried to brutally murder."

"Could you at least drop the creepy sex dungeon rumor? It's made the Silver Elite more irritating than usual because they keep trying to help me with the 'trauma' I endured," sighed Sephiroth.

Harry winced.

"Would it help if I brought you into the same special lessons I'm going to put Genesis through?"

"What sort of special lessons?" asked Sephiroth.

He watched in disbelief as Harry's arm became feathery and clawed like a bird.

"What the hell?!" said Genesis.

"This is just a partial transformation. I can do the full thing, but I would rather not have to worry about bored SOLDIERs and Turks accidentally killing me because I look like one of the monsters that they hunt down for spare cash," deadpanned Harry. "That and it's fun to freak people out about mutations."

Genesis snorted at that.

"So where do we begin?"

"With your least favorite thing of all. Meditation," said Harry. "Which reminds me, I need to drag Zack into our lessons if only to get Angeal off my ass about the prank."

"Only if we get to see your animal form."

Harry shrugged at that. They went to one of the training rooms, rigged it with a few monsters that were so easy to kill that even the infantry could wipe them out, and waited with anticipation.

They weren't disappointed.

Harry stretched a bit, then he seemed to _flow_ into a new form. Feathers sprouted all over his skin, no less than three pairs of wings formed on his back, and his feet turned into talons.

It was pretty clear he was turning into some sort of bird creature...one unusual enough that his concern about being killed off by bored SOLDIERs and Turks was pretty legitimate.

Harry let out a piercing cry, before he started to flap his wings and created a sizeable gust. More worrying was the gathering storm above them, when they knew for a fact that the VR simulator was supposed to be set to clear skies.

The next cry Harry made, along with all three sets of wings pumping downward, caused a massive lightning bolt not too dissimilar to a Thundaga or Ramuh being used to blast into the simulated monsters. The blast was so strong that it knocked out power throughout the entire building for five full minutes.

Harry landed and switched back.

"Oops?"

"Oops? Is that all you can say? What the hell was that thing?!" said Genesis in shock.

"Thunderbird. A North American mythological bird known to cause storms," said Harry immediately. "Of course my form is barely half grown, but still."

Genesis narrowed in on him with open and avid interest.

"You said you were going to teach me how to do that?" he said intently.

"Dad was one as well, but he turned into a stag," said Harry cheerfully. "Of course most people do this with someone who has a Mastery on the subject, but that means using a potion that changes you so that you know what the form is and eventually registering. My way means no one has to know what your form is except you and anyone you tell it to and has the added bonus of allowing you to do long-term partial transformations."

"What about the 'official' way?" asked Sephiroth, morbidly curious.

"Bah. The 'proper' way means a lot of boring exercises and you don't really get a handle on your instincts. Besides, doing it this way gives you a better feel for your magic and makes using certain spells a lot easier," said Harry. "Besides, it's family tradition."

"Of course!" said Genesis cackling.

He could not express enough how much he loved his little brother. And that was _before_ Angeal let a few things slip about how Genesis was treated by his _adopted_ parents until he joined ShinRa.

Genesis, once he found out where Harry went to, thought the massive fireball that used to be his 'home' was a rather lovely conflagration and that he was rather happy his little brother was considerate enough to share the "marshmallows" he brought for the occasion. Best of all, there was chocolate and Harry introduced him to a treat called "s'mores".

(Genesis found it highly amusing that Sephiroth, once he tracked down where his missing secretary went, promptly stole over half the gooey treats. Seph was a chocoholic, who knew?)

* * *

Harry was openly cackling, mostly at the sight of a puppy Zack trying to grab his tail while in canine form. So far they hadn't been able to narrow down _which_ breed of dog he was, just that it had considerably large paws and Zack still didn't look fully grown despite being larger than most domestic breeds.

Harry was leaning towards a large wolf hybrid...it was the only one that made any sense.

On an unrelated note Cloud was beyond thrilled to discover that his animal form was not, in fact, a chocobo like Zack seemed to believe.

Contrary to popular opinion due to his usual hair cut, Cloud turned into a rather impressive wolf of unknown lineage with golden fur and proud bearing. It bore a strong resemblance to the native species from Nibelheim, but that was about it. Cloud was just happy he wasn't a chocobo...he would have been rather cross otherwise. Though he would admit, accidentally discovering he could use the same 'revive' trick that the Nibel packs could on their fallen kin was a pleasant surprise.

Genesis was making great strides towards his own animagus form, but was having difficulty using his natural core. He had become so used to using materia to cast that it was making it harder to cast with his natural magic. Fortunately using materia for so long had kept his core from atrophying, but his mind had to get around to using his magic differently.

(At this point Genesis would consider it a 'win' to cast most of the pranks spells Harry knew and the animagus transformation. It wasn't like he needed the magical exams Harry mentioned for his job anyway.)

Genesis let out a whoop of joy when his hand turned into a set of talons. The wings on his back were something he paid little mind to, even if the damn things wouldn't go away. Harry had high hopes that once Genesis figured out how to switch to his animal form, he would eventually figure out how to hide them too.

Besides, it gave him the excuse to 'accidentally' knock over people who irritated him on the grounds that he wasn't used to having an extra set of limbs.

President Shin-Ra had irritably told him that he was banned from work, but as the wings were more of an annoyance than a health hazard Lazard had brought him back on the grounds that he still had paperwork to do.

Angeal, mostly to get Zack to shut up about joining them, was quietly working on his own transformation with slightly less success than Genesis, given that he preferred his sword training to magic.

"Finally! Any idea what sort of animal I am?"

"Well we have a reasonable assumption it's going to have some avian features," said Harry. "If only because of the wings."

"Of course," agreed Genesis.

"Considering your penchant for setting things on fire 'just because', I would bet a phoenix or some other fire-themed creature. You're a Potter after all, and we don't do normal unless there's something tragically wrong with us."

"What about our dad?"

"He managed to 'corrupt' his cousin into being the white sheep of the family and was a prankster from hell. I figure he used up his normality by learning to appreciate Sirius' bizarre fascination with fart jokes and bad puns."

"...I'll take your word for that."


	6. Chapter 6

Harry felt rather vindicated about his stance that Potters had the _weirdest_ luck when a conversation about the various magical creatures back in England lead to Fawkes appearing out of nowhere, startling Genesis to the point he tried to turn said phoenix into an ice cube (he was practicing setting people on fire without any materia, and had thus borrowed something from Sephiroth since he couldn't find his other elemental attacks), and subsequently bonding with said red head by complete accident once the bird went through an abrupt burning day.

On the plus side, Genesis now had a pet that could literally set itself on fire and wouldn't actually die on him like the other animals he attempted to raise as a kid.

Fawkes seemed to find it endlessly amusing that his new human partner liked to set other people on fire because he found it funny.

However the phoenix had been carrying a letter when it arrived, which had dropped before Genesis tried to kill it.

Harry picked it up and read the missive. Only for a rather impressive scowl to appear on his face.

"What's wrong?" asked Genesis.

"It seems Riddle attacked the school. Dumbledore is dead and the Ministry is so weak that if it hasn't fallen by now I'd be surprised."

"This is a bad thing?"

"Dumbledore was the only reason Riddle hasn't become more...overt...about his attempts to take over magical England. Considering the sort of atrocities his lot got up to before our parents were killed, I really don't want to contemplate what he's doing now that the one he was afraid of is dead."

"How bad are we talking about here?" asked Genesis seriously.

"Let me put it this way... before he somehow managed to 'die' the first time, he wiped out entire families down to the last child and tortured civilians. And that was just him...one of his best minions who happens to be our cousin is an unhinged bitch who tortured a pair of magical cops to the point they've become catatonic," said Harry flatly. "Add in the fact that most magicals in England are absolute sheep, and they likely aren't put much of a fight outside of a few survivors from the last time he was active and a handful of school children."

"...Bad, then," said Genesis. He looked thoughtful. "So why are they writing you?"

"Because there's some bullshit prophecy claiming that only I can defeat him, and everyone is all too happy to dump the problem of defeating a man with decades of experience and a large knowledge of dark and forbidden spells on someone who hasn't even finished school, let alone killed before," said Harry flatly.

"That is absolutely ridiculous. I refuse to let my little brother be put through that sort of bullshit," said Genesis angrily.

"You're the only one then. Everyone else seems pretty intent on me fulfilling my fucking duty," growled Harry pissed. "Why do you think I used a dangerous ritual with absolutely no idea what would be waiting for me at the other end without a second thought, beyond the fact I knew it would lead me straight to you?"

Harry was rather happy Genesis was sufficiently pissed off at the fact Harry was so desperate for someone who actually cared about his well being enough to get angry at the idea of sending him against an older and stronger opponent and was more likely to deal with the threat himself rather than force a _child_ to fight his battles. He would deny curling into the wing Genesis wrapped around him protectively.

Once they calmed down, Genesis felt that the best option was to address this particular issue with the others. The 'Three Generals' were all close enough to Harry that he knew they would be pissed if he didn't include them in how to deal with the threat against Harry.

"So let me get this straight. There's an entire community full of trained magicals who have the ability to fight back...and they're just allowing this guy to run roughshod over them?" said Angeal incredulous.

"They're sheeple. They're so used to letting others doing their thinking for them that they haven't had an original thought in generations," deadpanned Harry. "Dumbledore was big on the whole redemption bull that he basically removed the fangs of anyone willing to actually_ do_ something."

"I'm starting to get an idea of why you left," said Sephiroth.

"Actually it was because I wasn't inclined to believe the same line of crap Dumbledore kept insisting when I found out I had an older brother that was still alive, if displaced. There's no way in hell I was spending another summer with the Dursleys if I had a choice," said Harry absently.

"Dursleys?" said Genesis. There was something in the way Harry said that name that reminded him strongly of how he felt whenever he spoke of his adopted 'parents'.

"Our aunt and cousin. Trust me, five minutes in their company would have you setting their entire house on fire before pissing on the ashes."

Well if that wasn't a strong indication of his home life, nothing was.

"So what do you want to do about it?" asked Sephiroth.

"Considering how stupid most of the sheeple are, they won't hesitate to go through any number of methods to drag me back to deal with _their_ problem, regardless of whether I care enough to save their collective arses in the first place. I would be more than happy to wipe my hands of their idiocy once and for all, but they are rather persistent."

"So it would be better all around to go there and deal with the problem, rather than let them come up with some grand scheme that will only bite us in the ass sooner rather than later," Angeal summed up. His expression said volumes of how he felt about that, specifically the fact these people were attempting to force an untrained _child_ to fight their battles for them because they were unwilling to do anything themselves.

It was beyond dishonorable and it pissed him off, especially since this was Genesis' little brother they were talking about.

Fortunately all three Generals had a lot of vacation time saved up, and Rufus was more than willing to humor their request considering Harry had uncovered a major parasite siphoning off their funds from the company. The fact no one even liked Hojo to begin with was a major bonus.

Besides, after seeing a fraction of the things Harry had on him, Rufus was of the opinion that if the Generals brought back more of the magical artifacts they could find a way to replicate them and make an absolute killing in short order. The scientists were already over the moon trying to replicate the spare pensieve Harry had 'donated' in exchange for them not putting him through any experiments without running it through the Three Generals first.

(Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal and their three "apprentices" were just happy they wouldn't have to waste their vacation time once Rufus approved the trip for 'research purposes' so long as they brought back enough toys for the Science department to play around with.)

* * *

"I still don't get why you told us to bring all the gold we could get our hands on," said Zack.

"Here it's common enough to be used as change. On Earth it's a rare metal and therefor worth a hell of a lot more to the point we can get a ton of shit for Rufus for what you consider pocket change," deadpanned Harry. "Besides, imagine the fun plants you can bring back to your girlfriend as a proposal! I can think of several off the top of my head she's going to enjoy playing around with."

Actually Harry planned to send Zack to Neville's direction for advice on what would be best for Aerith's little garden.

"Were the spells to conceal our swords really necessary?" asked Angeal.

"Weapons aren't as common on Earth. If a cop saw you walking around and realized it's not a replica you'd be arrested in a heartbeat. That goes double for Vincent, as guns might be a lot more common but the civilians aren't encouraged to own them privately in England," said Harry.

The only reason Vernon even _had_ one was because he had a hunting license for some strange reason and it was technically legal for private citizens to own a hunting rifle. Though Harry had no idea what happened to it after Hagrid bent it to hell and back.

"Did we have to bring the chocobos?" asked Cloud.

"None of us have a driver's license and brooms aren't supposed to be used around the 'normal' populace," said Harry. "Riding a bird might be highly unusual, but there aren't any actual laws against it."

As far as he knew, there weren't any laws against riding horses so long as it didn't impede traffic. Sure, there was going to be a _lot_ of staring, but once it became clear that the birds were domestic animals that served the same function as a horse it was unlikely they'd be arrested.

Besides, they were going to get a lot of staring anyway thanks to Sephiroth's hair color, Vincent's claw, and their unusual fashion sense.

"But still, who would have thought Rufus would have okayed a trip to a completely unknown world?" said Zack.

"Considering the people in the Science department went positively nuts when I gave them that spare pensieve, it's understandable Rufus is using this as an excuse to redirect the nut jobs that enjoy poking you all with needles so much," said Harry joking. He gave all of them a Look. "Unless there's other sorts of poking going on, considering how often you guys go in for injections."

Genesis scoffed.

"There's the annoying Harry we all know and love."

"Just wait. I am going to have an absolute field day introducing you to the twins," cackled Harry.

Fred and George were going to _love _Genesis and Zack. Hell, his brother could be a Weasley himself with that hair of his!

"Everyone ready?" asked Vincent.

They were all loaded down with materia, most of which was fully matured and a few summons.

Genesis had Bahamut, Sephiroth had Shiva, Cloud had Odin/Chocobo, and Harry had Ramuh. Zack and Angeal didn't use their summon materia that much, and so didn't bother to pack them. Besides, the others had spares if they really needed it.

Zack and Cloud had even gotten upgraded weapons for the trip.

Genesis called Fawkes to him, and everyone held on to some part of the phoenix.

Vincent (in consideration of his claw) and Sephiroth grabbed one of the legs, Genesis was being held by the talons, while everyone else grabbed a part of the tail feather since it was the longest.

Fawkes flash-flamed them out of Gaia...and back to Earth.

Harry could honestly say he didn't miss home in the least.

* * *

_In Diagon Alley..._

The alley had gone under a stark change since Harry last saw it. Where before everyone was wary, now they looked almost terrified to be out and about instead of behind some nice safe wards.

Amazingly, the twin's shop was still open and doing decent business.

Harry lead the group straight to the shop.

It took Fred a few seconds to register someone was there, and he immediately held his wand at Harry.

"How do I know you're the real one?"

"I gave you my Tri-Wizard winnings to start the shop, and you were the ones who gave me the Maruaders Map before Christmas of my third year because I couldn't go to Hogsmeade," said Harry flatly. "I would use my patronus, but I sort of broke my wand when I landed wrong trying to find my older brother."

Fred lowered his wand.

"Harry, why did you come back?"

"Harry's here?" said George.

"Oi George! Your less intelligent and handsome twin just drew a wand at me!" said Harry loudly. "He does know I don't swing that way, right?"

George popped out and grinned at Harry.

Any doubts that Harry had about the twins being related to Molly Weasley died from the bone-crushing hug they gave him.

"Seriously though, why did you come back?"

"Fawkes showed up and told me about Dumbledore's death. Like hell am I going to wait for the Ministry to come up with some convoluted scheme to drag me back and force me to fight. Besides, I brought back-up that would be more than happy to set any Death Eaters that show up on fire. Repeatedly."

"So...who are these fine gents?" said Fred, finally turning to look at the men who followed Harry to the shop. He paid particular attention to Genesis.

Harry grinned wickedly.

"Fred, George...I would like you to meet my brother, Genesis Rhapsodos. Or as he would be known here, Lord Gabriel Potter."

"You actually found him?!" said George in shock.

"Imagine my shock finding out my brother had the Weasley hair color," cackled Harry. "Though that's still better than what Sephiroth here had to deal with in Hojo's creepy sex dungeon."

Sephiroth sighed in irritation.

"For the last time, he didn't have a 'creepy sex dungeon'. I'm amazed he even knew what sex was, and I wish you would quit putting the mental image of Hojo with a fetish in my head. I have enough headaches," said Sephiroth crossly.

Vincent snorted in agreement to that. He could do without contemplating Hojo's possible sexual prefences, thank you very much.

"Right. Big and grumpy is Genesis' best friend, Angeal Hewley. The puppy is Zackary Fair, the blond is Cloud Strife, while tall and sour puss is Sephiroth Valentine. They agreed to come here to help deal with the 'issue' that has been irritating me since my..._our_ parents were killed. That and to bring back plenty of souveniers. I know for a fact that the company they work for would pay you _big_ money for all the things you enjoy inventing and you'd have no end of test subjects who can withstand the worst of your pranks," said Harry. "Not to mention a guy who would definitely be your best customer the second he finds out you make prank supplies to use on his coworkers."

"Dear gods, are you trying to introduce them to Reno?!" said Vincent.

"It would teach the Turks situational awareness and learning to check for traps," Harry reminded him.

Vincent looked conflicted.

"Complaint retracted," he said defeated.

Fred and George looked entirely too gleeful at the prospect of a new customer base.

That and having Harry back with actual reinforcements.


	7. Chapter 7

Their plan to use the twin's shop as a temporary base was discarded when their arrival happened to coincide with an attack by the Death Eaters.

Harry almost felt pity for them. Almost.

Sephiroth had no patience for idiots and Vincent even less so. By the time the rest of the alley had picked up on the fact that there was an attack going on, it was already over.

Dead silence descended as the realization that the Death Eaters had been unilaterally _slaughtered_ by unknowns sank in.

"Do you know of anywhere we can set up a proper base?" asked Harry seriously.

"The Burrow is out, because it's too easy to attack. And we can't use Headquarters because Dumbledore was the secret keeper," said Fred grimly.

"Shell Cottage? At the very least Bill might have an idea," said George.

"Why hasn't your mum noticed I'm back?" asked Harry.

"The Burrow was attacked shortly after you left. Bellatrix destroyed the clock and dad was badly injured fending her off," said Fred.

"What?!" said Harry horrified.

"The Burrow took a hit, but everyone is fine," said George.

Harry relaxed slightly. He was very unhappy the closest thing he had to a family was attacked when he left.

"I would ask about the Order, but they were less than useful when Dumbledore was alive and I highly doubt they've bothered to actually do anything now that he's gone."

"You'd be right. They're still reeling from the loss of Dumbledore," said George.

"Think this 'Ministry' would be willing to pay if we deal with the issue permanently?" asked Sephiroth seriously.

"You kidding? They'd give you whatever you want if you killed the Dark Lord. Just look at how they practically turned Dumbledore into a king after he took out Grindlewald," scoffed Fred.

"Hell, from what I heard people donated entire _vaults_ full of gold to Harry after he took out Riddle the first time," said George.

"Wait, what?!" said Harry in shock.

"People willed their entire vault to you after you defeated Riddle the first time. Hell, I know Ginny sent you letters when she was younger after they came out with the Harry Potter Adventure books. You didn't know?" said Fred.

"Of course I didn't know! Why didn't I see these books when I went shopping?" asked Harry horrified.

"From what I heard the goblin in charge of the Potter accounts went after the publishers for using your name and image because they didn't pay royalties, so they were forced to come up with the gold on short notice. As a result they quit publishing them and the wizards who wrote them went bankrupt," said George.

"So I have another vault I didn't know about? Terrific," said Harry miserably.

Genesis wrapped his wing around Harry. It had become second nature at this point to keep his little brother from angsting, and for some reason Harry felt relaxed when he did it.

He felt it said a lot that neither of the twins even batted an eye at the wings.

"So how did you get stuck in a partial transformation like that?" asked George curiously.

"After a vacation we took, this just appeared one morning and nothing we've done has gotten them to disappear completely. Harry thinks once I get the animagus transformation down I should be able to retract them," said Genesis unconcerned.

So far he was making do with wrapping his wings around him like an odd cloak. Considering the fashion sense of these wizards, no one had even noticed or commented.

"You're attempting to become an animagus?" asked Fred.

"After what Harry did to Angeal's puppy, there was no way I wouldn't try to learn it," said Genesis.

"Puppy?" repeated George.

"He means me," said Zack. "It's a nickname someone started in the barracks and it caught on."

"Like you were complaining about the ears and tail. As I recall your tail was wagging like crazy once you realized it wasn't an illusion or a hallucination," said Harry dryly. "By the way, what day is it?"

"Hogwarts lets out in two days. Bet old McG would be willing to help with the animagus transformation on the sly once she knows who needs help," said George.

"I'm not the one who needs the help. Genesis isn't used to using magic the way we do," said Harry. "Though at least he got a partial. For some reason Cloud and Zack managed to pull it off after a few tries, though these three need all the help they can get."

"For now we need a place to stay," said Sephiroth.

"Well...we still have my tent, and the shop I got it from isn't that far away."

"Wait...the shop you got that tent from is nearby?" said Genesis.

"Yup."

"I'll be back. Those tents were pretty high up on the list of things we were told to get," said Genesis. That and he really wanted one with charms to repel bugs. That thing was awesome and far more convenient than the ones sold at most shops.

"If you see anyone suspicious, set them on fire!" chirped Harry.

Genesis cackled at that.

* * *

Genesis found it comforting that when Harry's allies spotted him, those he was actually closed to hugged him tightly in relief. They also gave Genesis a once over, and only relaxed when they saw the way he interacted with his little brother.

"Where's Hermione and Ron?"

"After you went missing, Dumbledore called them in and told them something," said Neville. "I'm not sure what was said, but whatever it was put Hermione into a major research mode."

"Oh bloody hell," said Harry irritably. "Those idiots went on another one of the misadventures I kept getting dragged into without me because Dumbledore decided it was a _brilliant_ idea to send untrained children to do his dirty work again."

Angeal looked disgusted himself.

"The more I hear about this Dumbledore, the more I wish he was still alive to give him a piece of my mind. No proper general would send untrained civilians to do the work of people who are actually _paid_ to deal with sort of thing," said Angeal.

"You wouldn't be the first, but everyone was too blinded by his so called legend to actually contradict him," said Bill.

"So what do we do?" asked Cloud.

"Knowing Dumbledore, he sent them on some quest that will only put them in greater danger without any actual information," sighed Harry. "Is there any way we can drag them to a safe house and get them to actually _stay_ there instead of in the line of fire for once?"

"I'll deal with it," said McGonagall. "It would be nice to know that my students aren't recklessly endangering themselves for a pointless reason for once."

"To be fair, the teachers were all but useless every time we did try to get help, so we quit bothering," said Harry bluntly.

Genesis gave him a sharp look.

"What."

"First year, we tried to warn McGonagall someone was after the artifact the Dark Lord was after and she brushed us off without even a second thought," said Harry. "Second year none of them bothered to do their research properly when it only took one afternoon for Hermione to figure out a _basilisk_ was causing all the trouble in the school. Third year they ran around like headless chickens trying to catch a man who was never actually convicted of his so-called crime while creatures that are known to drive the prisoners they guard insane from being around them were camped around a school filled with innocent children. Fourth and fifth year, do I really need to go on?"

McGonagall didn't need to hide her wince. Her shame was clear on her face.

Harry didn't stop there, oh no.

"And then there's the fact _everyone_ in that bloody school seemed to be of the strange belief I would be a carbon copy of our parents, and never bothered to notice I wasn't anything like them," said Harry irate. "Even Sirius just saw our dad."

Genesis wrapped his wing around his brother. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Seriously?" said Cloud.

"I bear a striking resemblance to our dad save for the green eyes. And the teachers just assumed I would cause trouble because he was a hellion back when he attended and most of the professors were teaching back then," said Harry flatly.

Sephiroth winced at the implications alone.

Genesis had already pulled his little brother into a hug, and Harry felt comfortable enough to finally let out what he had been holding in for close to seven years now about the nonsense he had to go through. By this point McGonagall radiated complete shame and had resigned herself to hearing a list of her failures as a teacher.

"But of course _that_ wasn't enough. Everyone assumed I knew the minor details of being part of the magical culture, despite the fact I was raised by my _normal_ aunt who despised magic and wouldn't even allow the mere _mention_ of it in her home to the point she threw a complete fit the one time a teacher let us watch something as tame as a Disney movie in class! Or the fact that when I showed I could speak snake, nearly the entire school turned against me save for a small handful and none of the other students apologized for making the tremendous leap in logic that I had to be the culprit behind the attacks on the other students simply because I could speak a language everyone considered evil thanks to a few bad people," ranted Harry. "And there's no way I'd ever forget the way _everyone_ turned against me for being _illegally_ entered against my will into that damn tournament. Dumbledore said I had to go through the tasks or lose my magic, but I looked through the rules after the first task and I found out there was a clause for unwilling participants that would have allowed me to drop out without anything happening if I wasn't the one to actually enter my name in. And not a single adult did anything to keep me from being dragged into that fiasco!"

"Deep breaths, little brother," said Genesis. He discreetly signaled Angeal to find some booze. He had the feeling Harry was going to need it after getting all this off his chest. Especially since he had clearly been holding it in for _years_ and no one cared enough about him to notice.

"Sounds like the teachers screwed up big time," commented Cloud.

"You want to know the most irritating part? Only a few people actually saw _me_ for me and not as the whole 'boy-who-lived' crap. As far as the majority of the magical community is concerned, I'm some prized bird that should be showed off while kept in a really crappy cage," said Harry sourly.

The Weasleys all thought it said volumes of Harry's trust in Genesis that he used his older brother as a teddy bear and the red head showed zero discomfort about the act.

* * *

Harry's plan to drag Hermione and Ron away from whatever ridiculous treasure hunt Dumbledore had them doing was brilliant in it's simplicity. And had an almost certain ability to work.

Genesis had snorted, before politely asking Fawkes to grab them wherever they hell they were. Any supplies they had behind could be retrieved later once their safety was assured.

McGonagall uncharitably wondered if the upcoming lecture was actually going to have an effect due to the fact Harry was the one who planned to give them the riot act for being 'youthful idiots'.

Harry had always been the most mature one of the trio, so it was of little surprise he had adapted to being a responsible adult faster than the other two who were still somewhat sheltered to how the real world worked.

At least now he had people who were more than happy to hold him back before he attempted to jump into trouble because it was expected of him.

McGonagall had a long chat with Genesis, or rather Gabriel Potter. What she found left her satisfied, as the man was clearly a Ravenclaw or Slytherin, and he was very protective of his little brother as his adopted family was less than pleasant. They were considerably 'friendlier' than the Dursleys, but they didn't go out of their way to make him feel welcome either.

She felt reassured that Harry's only living family that he would admit to was not only well trained in his style of magic but he also truly cared for his little brother the way family should.

Though she was definitely helping him with the animagus transformation. Even when Harry overpowered the charm developed to help those who started the initial phase of turning into their chosen animal, Genesis _still_ couldn't get rid of his wings. It seemed to be hard wired into his DNA somehow.

At the very least learning to become a proper animagus would allow him to either retract or possibly make a subpocket with his magic to hide them so they didn't get in the way all the time.

McGonagall was only slightly surprised when Fawkes basically dumped a less than happy Hermione and Ron on the ground.

She almost wanted to call Harry a complete hypocrite for grabbing both their ears and starting one _hell_ of a lecture for their stupidity about jumping in head-first into a quest when they didn't have the first clue where to look.

Except she could tell Harry had definitely matured and half the time the 'adventures' he stumbled into weren't even his fault, but a major failure on the teacher's part for automatically assuming he was a carbon copy of James or was exaggerating.

Sephiroth and Angeal, when Harry went into detail and even showed them _memories_ of the events in question, were less than impressed with the Hogwarts staff. First year McGonagall would honestly take the blame for that fiasco...if she had believed the children about someone after the stone they likely wouldn't have gone near the corridor in the first place.

Second year...well, that was on Dumbledore. As the oldest member on staff and the one to first suspect Riddle was up to no good, he really should have done a better job investigating Myrtle's death.

Third year...she could blame the ministry for their idiotic decision to send _dementors_ of all things to a school.

Fourth year, the Ministry and Dumbledore again. For someone who claimed to know the rulebook inside and out, Crouch hadn't tried overly hard to keep an illegal _underage_ champion out of that headache and had likely been goaded by Bagman about _Harry Potter_ being a representative for Hogwarts in front of the other schools.

Fifth year...Umbridge. Enough said. Perhaps if they had bothered to treat the trio like young adults and told them what was actually going on, none of them would have gone to the Ministry in the first place.

McGonagall didn't wince this time. She had done that enough already.

In truth, most of Harry's little adventures could be blamed on the fact that all the adults who he was supposed to rely on to handle things until he was trained and ready to do so himself treated him like he was a five year old trying to garner attention. The magical communities were so used to sheltering their children from reality that when things turned serious that when they were confronted by someone who showed a distinct maturity for their age their first instinct was to coddle them and try to keep them from learning critical need-to-know information that could save their lives.

It had been a rather unpleasant reprimand from people who were used to leading a small army of what she could only equate to a combination of Hit-Wizard and part-time soldier. Except they were all under the payrole of a single massive company that used some sort of machine that converted the energy of leylines into power that even muggles could use.

She didn't care to her more than that, it already gave her a headache.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry was rather disappointed in his friends. Not only were they not seeing reason, but they were also yelling at _him_ for leaving without telling anyone.

Especially Hermione. The second he found out what she did to her own parents, Harry was fully prepared to wash his hands of her entirely. Did she _really_ have to wipe their memories of her rather than explain to them like calm, rational adults exactly what was going on and why it was essential that they left England for a while? They could have gone on a year-long cruise or something!

Genesis gave his little brother a look of sympathy.

"Well, at least you tried to reason with them."

Harry sighed. Bill and McGonagall waited to hear his decision.

"Bill, do you think you can get through to them, or should we just skip to plan C?"

"Plan C?" asked McGonagall.

"If they're going to go off half-cocked on some ridiculous scavenger hunt with no idea how to find the items Dumbledore sent them after, then clearly they need time to cool their heads. We either throw them into an extended time out, taking away their wands and any magical items they're carrying...or we send them away someplace where they'll be kept too busy under strict watch by professionals under the guise of training," said Harry flatly.

Bill snorted.

"I think the training idea has merit. If I can't convince them to let people who have actual experience hunting whatever it is they're after down, then I'll call in a few favors and toss them to the same taskmasters that gave me an edge in curse breaking. From what I've been able to figure out, whatever it is they're looking for is pretty similar to what I find in the tombs in Egypt."

Harry sighed. He really wished his friends were willing to listen to reason, but Dumbledore had them pretty well snowed over. He had no doubt that if he tried to convince them to drop the hunt they would try to drag him _into_ their little camping trip instead.

Better to have Bill send them away for 'special training' to make the scavenger hunt easier until they had information on where to actually _find_ the items in the first place.

They could keep them snowed under by feeding them tidbits of information about the war and making it look like they had progress while keeping them out of the actual fighting. It would have worked on Harry, as he openly admitted, and he had no doubt it would work on them. Especially if both were kept too tired to actually _think_ by the end of it.

Harry was rather disappointed, but resigned when he watched his former best friends leave the base to a secret location with a special portkey.

Bill's friends had assured him that they would attach a special port key to some innocent items the children would keep on them. Hermione and Ron wouldn't know this unless they tried to leave without permission from Bill, but the port keys would forcibly dump them into a special 'time out' chamber until the instructors brought them out and proceeded to thoroughly guilt trip the hell out of the two into harder training.

Harry had some hope that the training would hammer in the fact that they were not trained adults, and that sometimes it was okay to ask for help from people they knew were trustworthy that had experience. At the very least Bill had made very sure his friends would put both children under a special quarantine and make them take a purging broth to insure their rash behavior wasn't potion or spell induced.

He spent the entire night curled around his older brother to get over the fact that he could no longer fully count on Hermione and Ron to be his back up. As much as he enjoyed the times they spent together, the truth was that he had held back his true self for years in order to avoid losing them.

Ron for example only saw things from a black and white angle, and his jealousy had made it clear he didn't value their friendship as much as Harry had. Case in point, when he turned his back on him fourth year along with the rest of the school. He was just as bad as Malfoy, and Harry had ignored that fact for as long as he could.

Hermione...she tended to trust authority figures and books far more than she should, and once she set her mind to something it took a miracle to get her to change it. Like the nonsense regarding "SPEW". She didn't care that the house elves didn't have a problem with the system, she just took offense at the perceived notion of 'slavery' without bothering to get the facts.

* * *

_The next morning..._

"Alright, so we got the two hotheads out of the line of fire. What next?" asked Cloud.

"Bill, didn't you say something about the 'Snatchers' or whatever they are?" asked Harry.

"He put a Taboo on his so called title, so that he can track down anyone who uses it. Since all those on his side call him the Dark Lord, it's pretty effective finding people who dare to challenge him," said Bill grimly.

"Wait...this guy tracks anyone who calls him by his self-claimed title?" said Zack incredulous. "How many people are we talking about per mission?"

"Between ten to fifteen, why?" asked Bill confused.

Zack grinned and looked at Angeal.

"Is anyone else thinking of Wutai, or is it just me? I mean these losers can't be any worse than the amount of ninja we had on our ass."

"He has a point. The warriors of Wutai were all highly trained...from what I've seen of the fighters here, they're used to softer prey. They'd never see our ambush coming," said Sephiroth.

"You know I almost feel sorry for these Snatchers," commented Harry.

"But?" said Genesis.

"But to be honest I'm going to be cackling while you guys pretty much decimate these idiots and give them a reminder that they're not at the top of the food chain. And if that doesn't work, I can always use plan B."

"Plan B? Why does this fill me with foreboding?" said Cloud.

"Well we could always lure a large number of Snatchers and Death Eaters to an area then I can use my special surprise. I brought a few of them!" chirped Harry.

"Oh gods... I just know this is going to end badly somehow, but I really want to see what scheme my little brother has concocted," said Genesis groaning.

"I'm thinking of recreating an iconic _Star Wars_ moment, just with a few tweaks."

"Which one?" asked Bill promptly. Seeing the look Harry gave him, he snorted. "I lived away from my mother for a few years and one of my buddies in the tomb raiding business got me hooked on the series."

"Oh. _Return of the Jedi, _specifically the scene inside Jabba's palace," said Harry.

"Ah yes, the only movie where you get to see Leia in a gold bikini," said Bill grinning. "Many a nerd boner was made that day."

Harry cackled and gave Bill a fist-bump.

"Wouldn't the sight of that blob Jabba kill them?" snickered Harry.

"Nah, they'd get a boner because it's _Star Wars_ and many of them now had actual material to work with regarding Leia," said Bill.

"I am totally lost now," said Zack.

"I have the set. Even the slightly less awesome but still decent 'new' trilogy where they explain how Luke's dad became Darth Vader and the rise of the Empire."

"Sweet!" said Harry.

"I heard movies," said Genesis perking up.

"Marathon first, then we'll unleash whatever unholy horror Harry has up his sleeve."

Needless to say _Star Wars_ had several new converts by the end of it and it only made Genesis even more eager to see what Harry had planned.

* * *

"_DEAR SWEET MERLIN!"_

"_KILL IT ALREADY!"_

"Harry...where did you get that?" asked Angeal twitching.

"Science department found a lab full of Hojo's rejects from his creepy sex dungeon. Since I knew we were coming back and there was a high chance that I could get anyone I gave a shit about out of the line of fire, I figured I could take them off their hands. They were more than happy to load them into the trunk," said Harry.

Sephiroth twitched.

"You brought a lab's worth of Hojo's experiments here?"

"Yes?" said Harry confused why Sephiroth cared. "Like I said, as long as the few people I give a damn about and any kids are out of the line of fire, why should I care if those things rampage or not?"

"What the hell is that thing anyway?" said Genesis.

"It looks like some of the things the infantry sees in the sewers from time to time," said Cloud.

"Does not surprise me," said Harry flatly.

"_Sweet merciful Merlin! Someone put that thing down already!"_ shouted another Death Eater.

"Shouldn't we be doing something?" asked Bill nervously. "And how the hell is this remotely like _Return of the Jedi_?!"

"The scene where Luke is dropped into the pit inside the Jabba's palace and is made to fight the Rancor that he eventually killed by dropping a door on him."

Bill calmed down.

"Oh. So you are planning to put that thing down, right?"

"And miss the fun of those idiots actually being on the losing side of things for once?" whined Harry. "Besides, that's what the Puppy and his pet chocobo are for."

"I am not a damn chocobo! You know I turn into a wolf!" said Cloud irate.

"But you fit right in with the flock we brought!" said Harry innocently.

Cloud slapped him.

"What flock?" asked Bill.

Harry grinned.

Cloud couldn't believe they were doing this.

"How the hell do we let you talk us into crap like this?"

"Oh come on, you know this is going to be fun. I mean how often do we get to do shit like this and not have the president or Lazard bitch about it later?"

"He has a point," said Genesis grinning.

"I can't believe we're doing this," said Angeal.

Sephiroth snorted.

"It's Harry. Besides, Harry has a point. How often do we get to do shit like this?" said Sephiroth.

"See! Even Sephiroth gets it!" cackled Harry.

Most of the group were on the chocobos Harry had brought with him.

The general idea was to ride the chocobos like one would in a cavalry charge and mow down the Death Eaters and the Snatchers. Since most of the guys had swords anyway, it wouldn't be too hard.

Sephiroth was looking forward to some indiscriminate killing of people who were utterly spineless. Especially after McGonagall was..._kind..._ to explain some of the atrocities that Voldemort and his minions had inflicted for well over a decade.

Any doubts Sephiroth had about brutally killing any of these Death Eaters died after that particular chat. Even if it meant unleashing some of Hojo's rejects on them.

Besides, it wasn't like they couldn't handle the reject pile Harry brought with them.

"CHARGE!"

"KWEH!" responded the black chocobo Harry was on. He named him Plato.

Genesis cackled as the group charged in on chocobos. Zack whooped with delight as Cloud sighed in exasperation...despite charging anyway.

The Death Eaters didn't stand a chance.

Vincent, being the only _sane_ member of the group despite the voices in his head, opted to record the whole thing...if only for blackmail later.

It took them all of thirty minutes to kill the reject Harry let loose, and they were all cackling like idiots.

"That was insanely fun!" said Genesis.

"Just think, every time these losers get to be too easy I can release another reject for us to let loose on!" said Harry.

They rode their chocobos back up the hill. Vincent held up a camera.

"None of you are ever living this down. _Ever_," he said with grim amusement.

"Why they hell would we want to live this down? Just imagine the amusement in using your video to humiliate any potential grand kids Seph has about their dad being an absolute dork once. Or any adopted kids he takes on," said Harry.

Seph looked at him wide-eyed at that.

"Besides, we're guys. The only way I'd ever be embarassed by that video would be if it had been an epic failure or something," said Genesis in agreement, grinning wildly.

"Yeah, like if Genesis tried to pull a 'death from above' sort of thing only for his wings to become fouled by a tree or something and we had to rescue him," snarked Cloud.

Harry cackled at the mental image.

Genesis flushed.

"That _never_ happened!"

Cloud and Zack turned to him. Zack had a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"Wait...that actually happened once?"

"I used Aero on him when he was coming in hot, and blew him into some wires that were fortunately cut off from the main station. It took Angeal and Sephiroth an hour to get him down, because I was laughing too hard to be of any help," said Harry grinning wickedly.

Zack let out a good long laugh at the mental image alone.

"I have pictures," said Vincent.

Genesis squawked at that.

"Please tell me you're joking!"

"I'm a Turk. Blackmail on others is pretty much our bread and butter," deadpanned Vincent.

"How much?" asked Zack.

Vincent smirked.


End file.
